The Convergence
by Nexterra
Summary: This first-person adventure follows an Earth Kingdom teen who tries to use her new Airbending abilities to make ends meet for her struggling family. Set during Book 3 of The Legend of Korra.


**_Special note: Hello! I've read fanfiction here for years but have never uploaded anything until now. This is the traditional fanfic version of one storyline from The Convergence, which is a text adventure I also wrote. You can learn more about the game on my profile page!_**

"Do it again, Sis!"

_Take one hand and put it over the other…_

Not long ago I woke up with the ability to Airbend. I was confused, but my little sister Mimi just saw it as a new way to play. The air ball is her favorite trick. All I have to do is spin my hands faster and faster around, then…

A small ball of air begins to form.

"I'm getting better aren't I?" I asked.

She nods, and then tries to poke the air orb.

"Hey Mimi, didn't Ma get you a new ribbon? Your hair is all messed up."

Monchi, our mother, works very hard to take care of us. We aren't a wealthy family, and the nearby villages have mostly been abandoned. The United Republic is the place to be everyone says. We stayed here because our family has very little value to our name. Even if we sold our house, we wouldn't have enough money to survive in the city. When the villages started to clear out my father went to join the Earth Kingdom army. He sends money every month, but the mail service charges him extra to send mail all the way out here. My older brother, Takku, works at a factory not too far from here. Takku, or as we call him Taki, is a Waterbender, so they make him do gross jobs like cleaning up the waste from rivers near the factory. Taki doesn't have the same mother as Mimi and I, but we all love each other the same.

"Ma did get me a ribbon! But I'm saving it for when me and Taki get married!" Mimi is only 6 years old. My mom always worries about her future. It isn't uncommon for poor families here to marry off daughters for a small amount of goods from the groom. When times were really bad I was afraid of being "sold off", but then Taki took that job at the factory and started sending us money. He gets paid decently, but he lives on-site and doesn't get to come home often.

I smiled at Mimi, thinking about her dreams of marriage.

"Married, huh? What about..." Let me think. What's good for Mimi? Got it! "What about becoming a treasurer?"

"Become treasure?" She looked confused, but not totally against the idea of becoming a box of gems and gold.

"A treasurer. They help the Queen count all her coins and diamonds! It'll be just like how you help mom keep track of her things."

She thinks this over, then replies.

"Can I keep the diamonds?"

I laughed, then kneeled down and motioned to Mimi. She climbed onto my back and I began to walk home.

"I don't think the Queen will let you have her diamonds, but if you work hard you'll be able to buy your own diamonds, rubies, and emeralds..."

"Just diamonds," Mimi yawned into my ear, "I think mommy would like them."

This dirt path we're walking on has been around for years. I remember walking to and from school with Taki when we were just little kids. Ma still sends Mimi and me to school. I told her that I'd rather work, and we argue about it every once and awhile, but nothing ever changes. However, the whole family agrees that Mimi should keep going to school. We may not have any hope in _our_ own futures, but we all have hope for Mimi. I know that one day she'll be living in downtown Republic City.

Down the path are two Earth Kingdom soldiers are up ahead hammering down a sign.

It isn't often Mimi and I see soldiers on this road, so I better be respectful.

"Hello, do you two need any assistance?"

One soldier turns and answers.

"Hello, young lady. We don't need any assistance, but thank you for the offer."

The other soldier finishes setting up the sign.

"This is a message from Her Majesty. She's asking any Earth Kingdom citizens with Airbending abilities to go to a nearby recruitment tent and join the Royal Guard. Info is on the board. Be careful walking home you two." The soldiers started to walk off when Mimi called out to them.

"How is my daddy?" She hollered.

No response. They just kept walking as if they didn't hear her.

"Mimi, they might not even know Dad." I looked at the sign they posted.

**WE WANT YOU, EARTH KINGDOM AIRBENDERS, FOR HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL GUARD. SIGN UP BONUS OF...**

The signup bonus was more than what my dad sends home a year. I _have_ been trying to think about what I could do with Airbending to get us more money. I never wanted to join the military, but...

The sun started to set as we finally showed up in front of our little home.

"Mommy we're home!" said Mimi. She ran straight into the house…

How am I going to tell mom about the Queen's notice? About me joining the Royal Guard? I'll just tell her after Mimi goes to sleep.

I heard a voice coming from inside. "Where is your sister, Mimi?"

"Outside."

The front door opened with a loud screech, and Ma walked out. My mother isn't that old, but all the hard work she does makes her seem years older than she really is.

"Is something wrong?" She asked. Even though it was dark, I could see her smile. I never could figure out why she was always cheerful.

"It's... nothing. I was just thinking about the house."

"Oh? What about it?"

"It's about time we get a new door. This one is getting too noisy."

Ma always knows when something is wrong, but I guess she didn't want to pry.

"Come inside! There is a surprise for you!"

She beckoned me in, so I walked over to Ma and grabbed her hand. We walked inside.

"Hey, sis."

The words came from my brother, Taki, who was sitting at our table casually with Mimi on his lap. His head was shaved, and his frame was gaunt.

"Taki! What are you doing here?" I was hugging him before I finished my sentence.

"I'm here to stay for a bit." He glanced at Mimi then back to me.

"I see. Ma?" I looked at my mom and she went over and grabbed Mimi.

"Come now, Mimi. Let's go get some beans from the storage bin outside." The two walked off and I looked at Taki.

"The factory is shutting down-"

I knew this was going to be bad.

"-but I was offered a job by the inspectors who made sure the factory was sticking to health and environmental regulations. Jang Hui International, a Fire Nation company. Pays more and I'll be treated better."

"That's great, Taki! I was worried that something bad had happened."

He smiled, looked down, and then kept talking.

"The new job involves a lot of travelling. I may not get a chance to visit home for a very, very long time."

"No. I'm not losing another family member just to make ends meet. You can stay here and find something closer."

"I can't waste time looking for a job that may not ever come."

"Look."

I started spinning my hand around until a miniature tornado appeared at my finger tips.

"I'm an Airbender now. The Queen is paying big for Airbender soldiers. I can go enlist and you can stay to look for a job."

Taki's eyes remained fixed on the small tornado.

"The spirits gave you Airbending to help rebalance the world, and you want to use it for fighting?" The miniature tornado dissipated.

"I'm not doing this to fight! There isn't even a war!" I stood up, angry that my brother could accuse me of _wanting_ to fight and hurt people.

"Fighting doesn't stop because there isn't a war!" Taki stood up to match me. "There is no war, yet Dad risks his life week after week helping that greedy pig collect her taxes from poor villages! The Queen taxed her people into a situation where if they don't fight back they'll DIE."

"How do you know what Dad does? He wouldn't take money from the poor and hungry. We ARE the poor and hungry. He wouldn't do that..."

"He does. He HAS to. He's told me in his letters."

The door opened up and Ma was standing there with Mimi. Tears were in her eyes, and then she spoke.

"Your father writes to you?" Her voice quivered. I hadn't realized it, but now tears were running down _my_ face. Dad hadn't ever written to us or visited us in the years he's been gone.

"Didn't he ever tell you? He told me he wrote to you keeping you updated. He didn't even mention it when he visited?" As Taki's questions flowed out I saw my mother sink down to the floor. Mimi hugged her. I guess she felt it was the right thing to do.

"Tell me, Taki," Ma choked out, "did you father say he wrote to and visited _me_-"

Silence.

"-or did he say 'your mother'?"

I realized the truth now. I looked over at Taki.

He stood there, shaking. He began to cry. "Mom..." He ran over to Ma, dropped down, and hugged her and Mimi.

I went over to them. Mimi began to cry because she saw Taki crying. I began to cry because it was the only thing my body could do. Tears streamed down my mother's face, but she never made a sound.

My father must have been talking to and visiting _Taki's_ mother. He never visited us. He never wrote to us. He probably didn't have to pay that extra fee to get things delivered to us- the majority of his pay must've been going to Taki's mother. We treated him like a hero, but I guess he had given up on us long ago.

"Mom," Taki said, "I'm sorry. This is my fault. Please. I understand if you hate me, my birth mother, my bending, even my name..."

"I don't hate you, Takku. You aren't any less a member of this family because of where you are from."

"But everything about me is a reminder of dad's... mistake. I don't even look like any of you."

"Your father's 'mistake' gave me one of my three most prized possessions in the world."

We continued sitting there on the floor with Ma.

It was morning. We gathered around the table to eat our rather boring vegetable breakfast. After a while we were all laughing and reminiscing about the silly things we used to do.

"You and Taki would always play house together. I remember when your dad and I came home from a trip to the village and you spilt all our flour on the ground!" Ma chuckled. "Your dad was going to pick up the flour but when he reached down there was egg yolk all over it."

Taki started to laugh. "I remember now! That was a week after your anniversary, Mom."

I remember this now, too. "We pretended to be you two and tried to make our own anniversary cake."

Taki's face started to turn red. "That's actually kind of embarrassing when you think about it."

Mimi giggled as she chewed her food. I better just get this out of the way.

"Mimi, guess what?" I asked.

"What is it, Sis?"

"I'm going to go work for the Queen." As I said that I saw Taki bite his lip. Ma stayed quiet.

"Wow! Are you going to be her treasure? Will there still be room for me?"

"Treasurer. I'm not going to take your job, Mimi. I'm going to help protect her with my Airbending. Like this. Hi-yah!" I did a quick yet dramatic air chop for her.

"Will Taki protect her with Waterbending too? Will I be a bender some day? Can I hi-yah!?" Mimi looked over at Ma. Ma nodded her head.

"HI-YAH!" Mimi shouted.

Taki jumped up and joined in. "Hi-Yah!"

Eventually, we were all chopping the air.

The sun was high in the sky when Taki and I showed up at the sign the soldiers put up.

"Whoa, that pay _is_ good," he said.

"So I'm going to send everything to your friend in the United Republic?" I asked.

"Yep. I figure with a loan from the bank, selling the house, and my severance pay from the factory we should be able to cover them for a month in Republic City. Then we can send money to my friend Jun who will give it to Mom."

"Can we trust this Jun person?"

Taki blushed a bit. "We can trust her."

I laughed and nudged him. "Did my big brother finally find a girlfriend?"

"Oh be quiet."

We stood there in silence. Neither of us knew what to say. Even though I don't see Taki often it still hurts every time we say goodbye.

"I guess this is goodbye," I said.

"Yeah. I'm not sure when we'll see each other again."

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too."

We hugged one last time. As I'm walking away I think about looking back. I don't.

The sun is burning me up. Just a little bit further down the road should be the recruiting station, though that recruitment sign ended up just taking me to another recruitment sign.

I've never had a real job before, so I'm not quite sure how getting paid works, but I think I'll ask them if it's possible to send everything to Ma instead of giving it to me first.

_Ah finally, the recruitment tent._

The only thing inside the tent are two men are sitting at a table. They aren't dressed how I expected. Instead of wearing armor or looking gruff these guys are actually very clean. Cleaner than me, at least.

"Hello." I said, "I'm an Airbender..."

The two men looked at eachother, then back at me.

"Please, demonstrate your abilities." Said one man.

I only know one thing, really. Just spin my hand and the air ball will appear. As soon as the air began to spin one of the men stood up.

"Who else knows of your Airbending?" He asked.

"Nobody." I might have stuttered.

The man standing walked over to me. "That's good. I've heard that the Air Nation has been forcibly conscripting Airbenders into their ranks. Families that shelter- or hide- benders are... Let's just say IF you did tell your friends or family, you'd want us to help protect them."

The man leaned up against the table. He has very peculiar gloves on. Noticing my stare, he continues.

"Like my gloves? They're standard equipment for the Dai Li. My name is Xin Fei. I am in charge of recruiting Airbenders."

Dai Li? I'm not sure I've heard of them. The other man stood up.

"Xin Fei, we should start on our way back to Ba Sing Se now." Xin Fei nodded. I still needed to know about the money.

"Um, about the Airbender pay bonus-"

"The Queen believes it is your _duty_ as a citizen of the Earth Kingdom to serve her."

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means you are working for free."

A scam. A trick. Not worth it. "I'm sorry Xin Fei, but I'm here for the money. I'll be leaving now." I started to leave the recruitment tent.

FWOOSH! A wall of rock shot up from the floor and blocked the way I came in.

"There is no leaving the Queen's army. Your duty is to serve her, and now _her_ life... is _your_ life."

Two teenagers are sitting by a moonlit lake. One is a young man by the name of Ude, the other is a young woman named Zada. Both are wearing dark blue clothing.

"Please tell me you didn't spend our last coins on bad information, Ude." Zada shivered, "I'm starting to freeze waiting for this guy."

Ude's teeth were chattering uncontrollably. "YOU'RE freezing? At least you're a Firebender."

"What is Firebending going to do? If I make a fire then people will _see_ us."

A light appeared off in the distance. It was coming down the path to the lake. Ude and Zada both dropped down low.

"Alright, Z. According to Ting-Ting these guys bring a big crate down to Full Moon Bay where they ship it straight to Ba Sing Se. We have to wait until the escort gets closer to move in or else HIS escort will jump into the fight."

"The escort has an escort?"

"Escort escorting an escort. That means there must be something valuable in their crate. It's common sense. We get the valuables, sneak into Ba Sing Se, and live like royalty for the rest of our lives."

As the light got closer everything appeared to be as Ting-Ting said. One man was using Earthbending to help push the cart he was pulling along, and another man tapped on the crate that was on the cart, and then walked away back down the path he came from.

"Ude, is that a soldier?"

"Nah. Just look at him. He looks more like an accountant. Or butler." The man was long, dark-green robes.

"But he's Earthbending!"

"I can Earthbend."

"I guess you have a point. You don't really need to be skilled to be bender."

Ude leaned in close to Z and whispered into her ear, _"Go for it."_

Zada scrambled up onto her feet and ran towards the man. Suddenly, the night sky was lit up by fire, and the silence was filled with battle cries.

"HNYAAA!"

A fire blast flew right past the man. The man kicked up a boulder and flung it towards Zada. As she ducked to avoid it, Ude jumped out and swung up his arms. An earth pillar came up under the front of the cart and knocked the crate off onto the dirt, and extinguished the lantern on the cart. In one quick motion, Ude dropped down and began to run his hands along the ground and the crate began to slide towards the two. "Z, kill the light!"

The Firebending stopped, and the night was dark and still.

"You fools! Do you think I'd let the dark stop me?" The man began to walk around with his arms raised in a traditional Earthbending stance. "I'm not leaving until I find you."

Zada jumped up. "You won't be finding anything for a while." A bright flash of light appeared right in front of the man's face and he fell to the ground. "Come on get that crate and let's go before his vision comes back!"

The two ran off, with Ude pushing the crate along into the darkness.

I open up my eyes, but everything is dark. Last I remember I was at the tent and...

"I can't take it anymore! I'm checking out our loot." A masculine voice.

_Loot? What's going on?_

"H-hello?" I said.

"Damn it, Ude. Ting-Ting tricked you into robbing a human smuggler!" A feminine voice. The sound of wood cracking came from above me and suddenly I could see the sky. It looks like morning. A guy peered over and looked at me.

"It's some girl," he said.

I sat up and climbed out of the box. A boy, a girl, and a very large body of water.

"Don't look down," said the girl, "we're on the highest point of the Serpent's Pass. You wouldn't want to fall off the cliff, would you? "

If we're on the Serpent's Pass that means we're right outside Ba Sing Se, which is where the Queen lives.

"Where is Xin Fei?" I asked. "Are you two working for the Earth Queen?"

The girl answered. "If Xin Fei is the nicely dressed Earthbender then he is probably crawling to Full Moon Bay right now. He might've made it already." She stood up and walked over to me. "Judging by your reaction, I'm assuming you were being taken to Ba Sing Se against your will."

I looked over at the guy who began to pace, then I looked back at the girl.

"I'm an Airbender. They were forcing me to work for the Earth Queen."

"That guy over there is my cousin Ude. My name is Zada, or you can just call me Z."

"It's nice to meet you, Z. Thanks for saving me." We both reached out and shook hands.

"No problem. To be honest we were expecting coins or valuable artifacts to be in the crate, not an Airbender." As she finished her sentence Ude walked over.

"Hey Airbender, how much money do we get if we turn you in to the Queen?"

Is he really asking me this? I took a step back and brought my arms up in front of me. Z stepped in.

"We can't take her to the Queen, Ude. What do we say when she asks how we found this Airbender? _Oh we saw one of your workers and __**robbed**__ him_."

"Sorry you two, but the Queen wouldn't give you a reward even if I let you take me in."

Ude had a slight look of disappointment.

"The Queen set up these recruitment posters promising big money to Airbenders who join the army. It was just a trick to draw out and kidnap Airbenders." Ude nodded his head.

"Ah," he said, "you were tricked out of your pay, and we were tricked out of ours. It looks like we've got a few things in common."

"My mother and little sister needed that money. I'm not sure how they'll survive without it." I just realized I don't even know how long it's been. My mom and sister could be on the streets right now. Mimi...

Z wiped her hand across my face. "Hey, there's no crying here. Me and Ude wasted many nights crying over our lives, but our tears never changed anything." She pointed down the path ahead. "Look, at the end of the Serpent's Pass is a path to Ba Sing Se. Since neither of our plans worked out we'll just go to Ba Sing Se and figure something out. You're an Airbender, Ude is an Earthbender, and I'm a Firebender. I just know something will come up."

I looked back in the other direction but Ude stood in my way and extended his arms.

"Don't even think about going back. We attacked that Xin Fei guy. Security is probably all over the place now. You'd just get captured again."

I didn't plan on going back, but now it feels strange having Ude telling me what I can and cannot do. Z started to walk forward and I followed her.

We all walked together the rest of the way. Sometimes we told stories, sometimes we told jokes, and sometimes we just admired the nature around us. Ude coughed and nudged Z. She shook her head then looked over at me.

"So, what are your friends like back at home?"

"I didn't really have any friends. Just my sister, mom, and brother. Families kept moving to the United Republic so I didn't have many people to hang out with or go to school with."

"No engagements? Future husbands?" asked Ude.

"Nope."

"You're lucky," started Z, "my uncle had too much to drink one night and sold my hand in marriage for- what was it Ude?"

"One badgermole poncho and a pair of swamp gator shoes."

We all laughed. I guess it isn't funny when you think about it, though. Ude ran in front of us and struck a dramatic pose.

"But as Stinky Ming and my dad showed up to take Z, I stood in front of her and said-" his voice became deep and powerful, "STOP IT FATHER! THOSE SHOES ARE BOTH FOR LEFT FEET!"

Z slapped her forehead. I laughed again. Z smiled and patted Ude on the shoulder. He responded by putting his arm around her and then we kept walking.

"You two seem like good cousins," I said.

"Ude is basically my brother. I think in Ba Sing Se we would've told people we're brother and sister."

Ude nodded his head in agreement.

Finally we arrived at the Outer Wall. Ude pointed to go left and we kept walking until we hit a path into the city. There was no one else around the entrance though. The only thing we could see was a helmet and a radio that was knocked to the floor.

"Usually there are Earth Kingdom sentries stationed here. They make sure only certified workers enter the Agrarian Zone," Ude said.

Suddenly, there was a voice.

**ALL EARTH KINGDOM SOLDIERS REPORT TO THE UPPER RING AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. AVOID TRAVELLING THROUGH BUSY SECTIONS OF THE CITY; CITIZENS ARE RIOTING AND LOOTING. ONCE AGAIN, THE EARTH QUEEN HAS BEEN MURDERED. ALL EARTH KINGDOM SOLDIERS-**

The voice cut out. Z ran to the radio and played around with the buttons, but nothing happened. She looked over at Ude. "Ude, the Queen is dead. The people are rioting."

Ude smiled. He looked at me, but I'm not sure what kind of reaction he was looking for.

"The people are LOOTING," he exclaimed, "and the guards are running back to safety. This is our chance to get that money we need. The money YOU need."

I looked at Z for support, but she was looking down at the radio.

"I'm not sure if we should be stealing. You and Z might be OK with it, but I'm not. Plus it might not be safe."

"I'm an Earthbender. You're an Airbender. Z is a Firebender. No one will be able to hurt us. With your bending no one will even be able to catch us."

"Fine," I said, "but if things get bad, we leave."

Ude pointed forward towards the city. "Now, all we have to do is decide where to go. All the people in the Lower Ring are no doubt rushing towards the Middle and Upper Ring. That means there probably won't be anyone protecting their stuff in the Lower Ring. The main problem is that there really isn't any wealth in that area, so we might not get much loot. BUT! If we go to the Middle Ring, there is lots of stuff there for us to take. We might have to get our hands dirty though."

"Let's just try the Middle Ring then," I said. I'd rather not take from the poor anyway.

"That's what I like to hear!" Ude started to run off.

I walked over to Z. "We'll have to run through the Agrarian Zone and Lower Ring, so come on Z. It'll take us awhile."

"Right. Let's go."

-End of Chapter 1-


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